flip the flyer over
How the Cassidy-Letlow race reveals the real fight: loyalty tests, revenge politics, and control of elections—and what you can do about it.
One thing I learned in all my time at the Legislature is that a bill is rarely about what it says it’s about.
Let’s say, for example, there’s a bill raising the sales tax on hot dogs from a popular hot dog stand somewhere in north Louisiana (let’s call it Bossier Big Dawgs). The talking heads will tell you it’s because mystery meat is bad for public health. In committee, they’ll come at you with all these charts and data showing you the correlation between hot dogs and heart disease. They’ll give you a one-pager about how the hot dog sales tax revenue will go towards something beautiful, like quality public schools. Everyone is on board! It’s a no-brainer! You feel good about your support of the bill!
And then you find out the bill author owns a hamburger stand (Bossier Beef Daddy) across the street from the hot dog guy, and he’s going to make a fortune because he just wiped out his competition, and last year he also passed a tax exemption for hamburgers with the help of the cattle lobby. You got played.
And to add insult to injury, the increased hot dog revenue gets redirected to private school vouchers at the behest of Janky Jeff.
In the end, it shouldn’t have been that hard to figure out. The information was right there in front of you—the one-pager was printed out on the other side of a Bossier Beef Daddy flyer. All you had to do was turn it over and read.
This is not a newsletter about hot dogs.
This is actually a newsletter about Julia Letlow. Or rather, Trump’s endorsement of her Senate run. Hear me out.
Here’s the basic story: Senator Bill Cassidy (R) is up for re-election. Trump pre-emptively endorsed Congresswoman Julia Letlow (R) and encouraged her to run against Cassidy. Julia Letlow is now running, and is “honored to have President Trump’s trust and endorsement.”
Here are some additional details:
Cassidy is currently Louisiana’s senior U.S. senator, a role he has held since 2015, following six years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015.
He chairs the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, has a coveted seat on the Committee of Finance, and also sits on Veterans Affairs and Energy & Natural Resources
Letlow, on the other hand, has served as a U.S. representative only since 2021, after winning the seat her husband was elected to but never assumed following his death from COVID-19.
She sits on the Appropriations Committee, which is a big deal, but is otherwise fairly green. Albeit considered a “rising star.”
Seems weird, right? Why would the President care so much about this race and be so set on installing Letlow over Cassidy? What the heck?
I think Eddie Rispone—who you might remember as Balogna Rispone from his failed bid as Governor against John Bel in 2019 and the literal raison d’être of the entire Louisianahbrah movement—said it best (yes, those words just came out of my mouth):
“I don’t understand the president’s deal. I think it’s pretty ridiculous. You have a great guy making a difference. He chairs a major committee and is on the Finance Committee. She’s obviously a smart person, but she’s not even a seasoned congresswoman. It doesn’t make sense to me.”—Eddie Rispone
YOU ARE SO RIGHT, BALOGNA! It IS ridiculous! This move by Trump is widely seen as yet another threat to the tenuous hold Republicans have over a Senate majority:
“Republicans’ Senate headaches just got even worse as they face another nasty primary with a Trump-endorsed candidate against a sitting Senator,” spokeswoman Maeve Coyle said. “This is the latest in a string of problems for national Republicans as they grapple with infighting and a toxic agenda that has put their Senate majority at risk. As Republicans continue to sabotage each other, Democrats are in a strong position to win in 2026.”
And all for what? To back a WOMAN? With hardly any experience? None of it makes sense—until you flip over that one-pager. Because here’s what’s on the other side of the Beef Daddy flyer:
Cassidy was one of the only Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment in the aftermath of January 6, 2021.
Balogna seems to understand that to a certain extent, because he acknowledges, “They’re all running on one vote he made on impeachment.” But he can’t seem to connect the dots.
Obviously, yes, nobody holds a grudge better and longer than our president (and his sycophants will apparently follow his lead to the ends of the earth and of a pedophile-infested cliff). He never forgets any slights against him, and he always makes the perpetrator pay—no matter the cost to the American people. But most of all, beyond the petty revenge, he wants to make sure that whoever is in that seat will support him, no matter what.
This isn’t about the past, it’s about the future.
In his push to get her to run, Trump said, “Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!” Which, I can only assume, he means she has his complete and total endorsement only if he has hers—especially on matters of impeachment. No matter the offense.
In her announcement, Letlow said, “Louisiana deserves a conservative Senator who will not waver. I am honored to have President Trump’s endorsement and trust.” Which, I can only assume, she means a Senator who will not waver in supporting the president whenever he faces another vote of impeachment. No matter the offense.
Because when else did Cassidy “waver?” I mean, yes, sure, he voted to impeach. And yes, after Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents, he called for him to drop out of the 2024 election (because obviously). BUT he also confirmed RFK as Health Secretary, despite his background as a physician and his lifelong advocacy for vaccines. He was also the 50th vote for Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, a deciding vote that paved the way for VP Vance to cast the tie-breaking vote. And up until Trump’s endorsement of Letlow, this was the post pinned to the top of his Twitter feed:
The only waver I see here is the line he drew in the sand at (in his words) an “assault upon our democracy.”
Why would that stance concern Trump? What is on the other side of the Bossier Beef Daddy flyer?
Just flip it over and read:
“Mr. Trump called for Republican officials to ‘take over’ voting procedures in 15 states, though he did not name them.
‘The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’’ he said. ‘We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.’
Mr. Trump’s remarkable call for a political party to seize the mechanisms of voting follows a string of moves from his administration to try to exert more control over American elections, as he and his allies continue to make false claims about his 2020 defeat.
Last week, F.B.I. agents seized ballots and other voting records from the 2020 election from an election center in Fulton County, Ga., where his allies have for years pursued false claims of election fraud.”
This isn’t even coded language anymore. He’s now just saying the thing:
Mr. Trump has made little secret of his interest in expanding the federal government’s role in administering American elections. Last month, he told The Times that he regretted not dispatching the National Guard to seize voting machinery after the 2020 election.
They’re coming for midterms. They’re coming for the integrity of our elections. They’re coming for the fabric of our democracy. They—REPUBLICANS—want to CENTRALIZE POWER and put the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT in charge of something INDIVIDUAL STATES HAVE JURISDICTION OVER. All because Trump knows he’s the reason Republicans are going to lose big at midterms:
Sensing that Republicans were vulnerable to the traditional midterm backlash against the party in power, Mr. Trump last year kick-started an extraordinary effort to gerrymander congressional maps to give his party an edge. The push, which started in Texas but has since expanded to both Democratic- and Republican-controlled states, became a central part of the president’s midterm strategy.
And his little sycophants are all on board:
He’s getting it all lined up, and he wants Julia in his pocket for when the shit hits the fan. He needs that deciding vote in his favor. Because he knows that when you’re planning an assault on democracy, Bill Cassidy isn’t your guy.
We have all gotten played by Bossier Beef Daddy every single day of this administration. But now we have the opportunity to do something hilarious and strategic.
Background:
Letlow and Cassidy will go head-to-head in a closed Republican primary. It looks like they will be the two main contenders.
As of now, Dems aren’t backing anyone to run against Cassidy. Some Democratic candidates have started emerging, but the party hasn’t coalesced behind anyone.
It is more than likely that whoever wins the Republican primary will be the frontrunner and probable winner.
FUN FACT: Anyone who is a registered Republican or registered “No Party” can vote in the Republican Party. You just have to change your party registration 30 days before the election. Which means you have until April 16th to change your voter registration. (that can vary a little depending on changing it online or by mail, but that is the safe date to make sure it’s done by).
WHICH MEANS that if a bunch of us go No Party, we have the opportunity to vote for Cassidy, beat Letlow, and shove Trump’s hand-picked sycophant candidate right back up his ass.
Yes, I know Cassidy isn’t the perfect candidate, but neither was John Bel, and we fucking needed him. And now we need anyone and everyone in the State Capitol who is willing to draw the line at “assault of democracy” instead of blindly toeing it.
I have long held that Louisiana is the canary in the political coal mine, and we are once again ground zero. We have the opportunity to send a clear message to the entire country: this is where we draw the line.
Fuck Trump and his belief that he can have anything he wants. He can’t have Louisiana.
FUCK BOSSIER BEEF DADDY! RISE UP, BOSSIER BIG DAWGS!
THE CALL TO ACTION IS TO SWITCH YOUR PARTY AFFILIATION TO NO PARTY BEFORE APRIL 16, 2026, AND VOTE FOR CASSIDY IN THE PRIMARY ON MAY 16, 2026.
We can do this, yall. I know we can.
Start spreading the word.
*And just a heads up: if by SOME MIRACLE a strong Democratic candidate emerges and you feel compelled to vote for them in a Democratic primary, you will still be able to do so if you are registered as No Party—you just can’t vote in both primaries. You would have to pick the Democratic or Republican primary and stick with it. In the general election, you can vote for whoever you want, regardless of party.
If you decide to change your party affiliation, please comment below! I want to hear about it!
Done!
Done! Took less than 5min.
And I’m going to recruit my friends and mom to do the same.